Talking book, an educational toy with multi-position sound track and improved stylus transducer

ABSTRACT

For use in a talking book consisting of one or more pages containing visual material superimposed on or in juxtaposition with the sound grooves on each page, sets of undulated lateral or hill and dale sound grooves made an integral part of each page, each groove in a set recorded identically with every other groove in that set; a hand held stylus transducer capable of being held in a variety of positions as it is manually moved, its stylus tip engaging and reproducing sound from either wall of a sound groove in any set of grooves, and containing an integral tapered shield to protect the page and user from the substantially sharp point of the stylus should the transducer be mishandled on or off the page.

United States Patent Krainin Jan. 1, 1974 [54] TALKING BOOK, ANEDUCATIONAL TOY 3,391,476 7/1968 Sher 35/35 C WITH MULTLPOSITION SOUNDTRACK 3,416,241 12/1968 Weitzner 35/35 C AND IMPROVED ST LUS TRANSDUCERFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [76] Inventor: Stanley Krainin, 401Rutland Ave., 10,309 9/1969 Japan 35/35 C Teaneck, NJ. 07666 PrimaryExaminerLouis R. Prince [22] Filed' 1971 Assistant ExaminerA. J.Mirabito [21] App]. No.: 123,988

I [57] ABSTRACT [52] U-S. C1 274/9 R, C, 274/37, For use in a talkingbook consisting of one o more 274/42 pages containing visual materialsuperimposed on or C| Gllb G1 1b 3/72, G1 lb 3/78 in juxtaposition withthe sound grooves on each page, [58] Field of Search 274/1 A, 9 R, 42,Sets f undulated lateral or hi d d Sound grooves 274/371 38; 35/35 C, 35E made an integral part of each page, each groove in a set recordedidentically with every other groove in References Clted that set; a handheld stylus transducer capable of UNITED STATES PATENTS being held in avariety of positions as it is manually 983,061 1/1911 Jetter 274/37moved its Stylus tip engaging and reproducing Sound 1,013,421 1 1912Millet 274 37 from either Wall Of a Sound groove in any Set Of 1,792,5282/1931 Bleyer 274/42 R grooves, and containing an integral taperedshield to 2,369,5 2/1945 Kallman 35/35 E protect the page and user fromthe substantially sharp 215281611 llH950 Saffady 274/42 R point of thestylus should the transducer be mishan- 2,548,011 4/1951 Frost 35/35 Cdled on or Off the page 2,822,425 2/1958 Hicks 1 1 35/35 E 2,997,3068/196I Hicks 274/42 R 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 11974-3.782.734

SHEET 10$ 3 I INVENTOR.

PATENTEDJAH 1 1914 3,782,734 sum 20; 3

INVENTOR.

FIGURE 48 FIGURE 4A PATENTED SHEU 3 0f 3 'FIGU E 5 FIGURE 6 INVENTOR.

TALKING BOOK, AN EDUCATIONAL TOY WITH MULTLPOSITION SOUND TRACK ANDIMPROVED STYLUS TRANSDUCER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to an improved talking book and more particularly to adding asan integral part of each page of said book containing printed or writtenvisual material, sets of undulated sound grooves; and to an improvedhand held transducer stylus to be used with the said book and soundgrooves.

Talking books have been made by extending or affixing separatelyrecorded (acoustics or magnetic) sound tracks to the written or printedpage in some arrangement so that correlation between sight and sound wasachieved. Reproduction of sound in one instance (H.L. Samuels, U.S. Pat.No. 2,546,680 dated Mar. 27, 1951) was obtained by moving an edge guidedslider with stylus that vibrated an embossed undulated hill and dalesound tape, one end of said tape connected to a diaphragm for soundamplification and extending along and in proximity to the visualmaterial.

In another device (W. R. Hicks, U.S. Pat. No. 2,822,425, Feb. 4, 1958)again edge guided, an electromechanical pickup stylus transducer or amagnetic playback head was rigidly oriented in a slider and manuallydrawn along a sound track in proximity with the visual material toexcite an audio amplifier and loud speaker. In the case of the stylustransducer, the sharp pointed stylus engaged a single hill and dalesound groove and had no protective device to prevent it from injuringthe page or the user if mishandled.

In still another device (L.T.Frost, U.S. Pat. No. 2,548,011, dated Apr.10, 195 l) a magnetically recorded track was affixed to the writtenpage. A pen-like transducer with a magnetic playback head and protrudingguide arms, was positioned on the tape by engaging the guide arms in agroove in the page parallel to the magnetic tape. The transducer wasdesigned to be held in a single position with respect to the page andmanually moved along the magnetic track at a velocity approximating thatat which the track was recorded and in' a direction determined by theguide groove. The magnetic playback head excited an electronic amplifierand loud speaker.

These older designs required or implied careful alignment of the soundpickup device or transducer with the sound track through some form ofedge or groove guide parallel to and removed from that recorded track.Further, the devices did not equally accommodate a normally left handedperson since they appeared to be designed for a right handed one.Thirdly, previous designs v were costly to fabricate in comparison withthe proposed invention. Fourthly, in those devices employing soundgrooves and a transducer with a needle-like stylus, the exposure of thesharp pointed stylus was a hazard to the user and others if it wereimproperly handled off the page and a hazard to the single, vulnerablesound groove if moved in other than its normally intended direction onthe page. Finally, a single vulnerable groove or track providing soundand being the sole source of sound for the particular visual material ona page, limited the life of the talking book either through abusive wearor accidental damage to that groove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An objective of this invention is to provide atalking book in which each page having visual material is supplementedwith sets of undulated sound grooves, each set consisting of more thanone duplicate sound groove describing visual material the latter whichis normally but not limited to being superimposed or in juxtapositionwith each set of sound grooves so that said configuration facilitatesand achieves ease of engagement and movement of a manually held pen-likestylus transducer, accommodates lateral translation of the stylus fromany groove to any other duplicate groovein case of groove damage orblockage, or transducer mishandling while transcribing, increases thelongevity of sound reproduction since damaged sound grooves could beeasily bypassed through use of adjacent duplicate grooves, andeliminates the need for edge or groove guides.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a talking book inwhich the pen-like stylus transducer is manually held with its pointedtip in contact with an undulated sound groove, in a variety of angularpositions relative to the page and moved at a velocity approximatelythat at which the sound groove was recorded so that the configurationfurther yields satisfactory sound reproduction, accommodates the holdingand writing habits of the user whether he or she is right or lefthanded, further increases the talking books sound reproduction longevityby allowing many points of the stylus tip surface to contact eithergroove wall and encourages the use of the talking book through ease ofoperation.

Another objective is to provide a hand-held sound pick-up device ortransducer with a universal and unique safety feature in which therelatively sharp or pointed end of the stylus used in the transducer isshielded by integral and rigid parts of the driven element of thetransducer, so that the operator is protected from self inflicted injuryfrom the sharp point and the sound grooves are not subjected to damagein misuse of the device;

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An understanding of the foregoing andadditional aspects of the invention may be gained from a considerationof the following detailed description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the sound pickup device, a pen-likestylus transducer, held in a working position by a right handed person,on the talking book page, the tip of the stylus engaging one of aplurality of identically recorded sound grooves constituting a set.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 except that the stylustransducer is held in a working position by a left handed person,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic Plan View showing projections of thetransducer stylus in a horizontal plane of the sound groove and theangular limits thereof for contact of the stylus with that groove toreproduce satisfactory sound.

FIG. 4A and 4B are enlarged diagrammatic Sectional Views taken alonglines 4A 4A and 4B 4B respectively in FIG. 3 showing projections of thetransducer stylus in a plane transverse to the sound groove and theangular limits thereof for contact of the stylus with that groove toreproduce satisfactory sound.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged diagrammatic Side View along the line of a soundgroove showing projections of the transducer stylus upon a verticalplane through the center of a sound groove, and the angular limitsthereof for contact of the stylus with that groove to reproducesatisfactory sound.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged diagrammatic Sectional View showing constructionof the pen-like, sound pick-up stylus transducer with integral stylusand shield.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly tothe drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a page 10 of the book or sheaf ofpages preferably made of plastic or equivalent sheet material upon whicha set 11 of lateral or hill and dale sound grooves 12 is impressed andthe visual text 13 or information is printed or written. The grooves aremolded into the page as in phonograph pressings while the text orinformation is printed or written in a normal way on the land betweenand adjacent to the sound grooves.

The pen-like stylus transducer 14, described later in detail, is shownmanually held and moved for transcription by a right handed user 15while the transducers stylus 16 is made to engage any groove 12 of aplurality of identical sound grooves, here represented as set 11.

The right handed person will tend to use the upper walls of the lowersound grooves of each set to maintain unobstructed view of the visualmaterial as shown in the illustration.

In its movement along a groove, the stylus may translate betweenidentical sound grooves, typically due to groove damage, groove blockageor transducer mishandling, with only a minimal interruption oftranscription.

Other sets 17 of sound grooves are used to functionally operate withother visual information.

Through the stylus 16 the transducer 14 converts the mechanicalundulations in the sound grooves to sound pressure undulations which forexample are guided through the flexible tubing 18 to the acousticalearphones 19. The transducer is moved preferably at the same velocitythe sound grooves were recorded, which recording is shown made in thesame direction of travel 20 which the visual text or information is readin this figure.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1 except that a left handed user 21 isillustrated. The left handed person will tend to use the lower walls ofthe upper sound grooves of each set of grooves in order to maintain anunobstructed view of the text.

The transducer 14 is described in detail in FIG. 6. Its stylus 16 isshown in contact with a sound groove 12 in a page 10 of the talking bookand is moved along that groove, translating to other grooves in the set17 when necessary.

In both FIGS. 1 and 2, the visual text and the sound groove set areshown reading and operating left to right respectively and in the samedirection. They may also be read and operate in opposite directions ifso made that way. They may also be made parallel, oblique, perpendicularor curvilinear with respect to each other for added versatility.

FIG. 3 shows the range of possible positions in context with FIGS. 4 and5 the pen-like transducer stylus 16 may take with respect to a Plan Viewof the talking book page and of a sound groove 12 herein shown enlarged,to accommodate the pen holding habits of the user and to yieldsatisfactory sound from the lateral or hill and dale sound groovesembedded in the page.

With the broken line 22 representing: the edge of an imaginary verticalplane through the, nominal center line of the groove and with the arrow20 parallel and indicating direction of stylus travel, the transducermay be held in any position such that its stylus lies within an includedangle of 178, centered so that 89 is measured either side of that planeand its apex lies opposite to the direction of stylus travel 20. In thisdevice, sound is intended to be obtained separately from undulations ineither groove wall 23 and 24 rather than from both groove wallssimultaneously as in conventional phonograph devices.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B show the range of possible positions in context withFIGS. 3 and 5, the pen-like transducer stylus 16 may take with respectto a typical sound groove 12 herein shown enlarged and in sectionalview. The stylus is shown in contact with either groove wall 23 or 24since sound pick-up is obtained from only a single wall undulationrather than from both walls. The stylus may be in any position within anincluded angle of measured 45 either side of the imaginary verticalplane through the nominal center line of the sound groove represented bythe broken line 22. The side of the stylus or its protective shieldmakes contact with the top edge 25 or 26 respectively of the oppositewall of the sound groove providing physical support but contributinglittle to sound pickup.

FIG. 5 shows the range of possible positions in context with FIGS. 3, 4Aand 4B the pen-like transducer stylus 16 may take with respect to atypical sound groove 12 herein shown enlarged and in side view. Soundpickup is obtained when the stylus is in any position included within anangle between 5 and 45 measured from imaginary planes 27 normal to thetalking book page and transverse to the sound groove 12 with the stylus16 inclined in the direction of stylus travel 20.

FIG. 6 shows the construction of the pen-like stylus transducer 14.Stylus 16 is rigidly fastened into a tapered conical or hyperboloid,light weight shield 28 which permits the stylus to protrude a maximum ofone thirty-second inch and which is truncated to provide a skirt 29 witha maximum of one-sixteenth inch diameter. The shield is formed as partof a solid piston 30 J0- sitioned in the barrel 31 by a soft rubber orelastic sleeve 32. Sound undulations are generated by the piston in thecavity 33 when the rigidly connected stylus 16 is in contact with and ismoved along a sound groove such that the stylus moves in accordance withthe undulations of the sound groove wall. Sound is propagated throughhole 34 in the barrel to the flexible tubing 18 which guides the soundto an output device such as acoustical earphone used as an example inFIG. 1.

I claim:

1. A talking book including at least one page having thereon visualmaterial and substantially V shaped sound grooves which have signalinformation recorded thereon concerning said visual material and whichsignal information is adapted for reproduction by relative movementbetween said page and a substantially pointed penlike, manually held,sound pick-up stylus transducer, characterized in that the page has atleast one set of two or more adjacent and parallel sound grooves thereonin which all of the grooves of each set have identical recordedinformation.

2. A talking book in accordance with claim 1 wherein said manually heldsound pick-up stylus transducer by said shape including an angle of lessthan 88 and truncated at its apex to form a protective skirt not lessthan one-sixteenth inch in diameter about the said sharp stylus whichprotrudes not more than one thirtyelement whose exposed end supportingthe said stylus 5 second inch.

is conical in shape, the moving element is characterized

1. A talking book including at least one page having thereon visualmaterial and substantially V shaped sound grooves which have signalinformation recorded thereon concerning said visual material and whichsignal information is adapted for reproduction by relative movementbetween said page and a substantially pointed penlike, manually held,sound pick-up stylus transducer, characterized in that the page has atleast one set of two or more adjacent and parallel sound grooves thereonin which all of the grooves of each set have identical recordedinformation.
 2. A talking book in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidmanually held sound pick-up stylus transducer comprises a barrel and amoving element which is resiliently supported within said barrel by anelastic cylinder and into which a substantially sharp stylus ispermanently affixed and made an integral part of said moving elementwhose exposed end supporting the said stylus is conical in shape, themoving element is characterized by said shape including an angle of lessthan 88* and truncated at its apex to form a protective skirt not lessthan one-sixteenth inch in diameter about the said sharp stylus whichprotrudes not more than one thirty-second inch.